County: Antrim Site name: ANTRIM: Ballymena Road
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: AE/05/163
Author: David Alan Swan, GUARD
Site type: Prehistoric site - lithic scatter
Period/Dating: Prehistoric (12700 BC-AD 400)
ITM: E 714377m, N 887903m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.726163, -6.224350
In advance of further development on the site of the former Enkalon lands, Ballymena Road, Antrim, an archaeological evaluation was undertaken between 28 November and 31 December 2005 and 8 and 19 January 2006. The development site is located close to the old Enkalon factory on the north-western edge of the town, immediately west of the Antrim to Ballymena road (A26). The site is situated c. 1.5km east of Lough Neagh. The project was undertaken on behalf of Culzean Estates Limited.
No archaeological features were encountered. However, several worked lithics were retrieved, along with several hundred flint pieces. Other finds included a large amount of post-medieval pottery sherds, mainly red wares, and one coin. Work in adjacent fields provided evidence relating to both prehistoric activity and the late-18th-century battle of Antrim (Ballin forthcoming and Swan 2004, 5).
References
Ballin, T. forthcoming, ‘Lithics, artefacts and pottery from Ballymena Road, Antrim town, Co. Antrim’. Ulster Journal of Archaeology.
Swan, D. 2004 GUARD 1764 Enkalon lands (Phase 2), Ballymena Road, Antrim. Glasgow. Unpublished data structure report.
Gregory Building, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8QQ, Scotland
